


Shades

by Herk



Category: Luke Cage (TV)
Genre: Abusive Relationships, Character Study, M/M, all bad things happen offscreen
Language: English
Status: Completed
Published: 2016-12-29
Updated: 2016-12-29
Packaged: 2018-09-13 01:13:07
Rating: Mature
Warnings: Rape/Non-Con
Chapters: 1
Words: 2,165
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/9099913
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/Herk/pseuds/Herk
Summary: He's a smooth dresser. He smiles easily. He's only there to help. Who is the man behind the sunglasses?





	

**Author's Note:**

> After finishing watching Luke Cage my brain came up with this.

Hernan had always been clever - a useful but also dangerous thing growing up the way he did. But getting older, watching the likes of Mama Mabel and Pop and all the others defining the Harlem of his childhood, Hernan learned that ‘clever’ often wasn’t enough. Many of the kids were clever yet very few of them made it on either side of the law. So it was a good thing that he was also intelligent.

He learned early on that invisibility - or at least invisibility to certain people - was invaluable. It only paid off to be noticed by the right people.

He first wore sunglasses to hide a black eye his father had given him. At 14 he was too old to let anyone do this to him. When he saw the reactions of some people, he decided to keep them. If he only wore them when he had something to hide, they were hardly a good way to keep up appearances after all.

And he liked when people started calling him Shades.

He never wanted to be a leader.

There were others far better suited to take the place in the spotlight - to inspire and lead people. Shades kept in the shadows, one step to the left and two behind the person everyone focused on. He could advise and watch the boss’s back and be as safe as one could hope to be. And in return the boss had his loyalty. It might be a bit medieval but it suited him just fine.

Sometimes the circumstances demanded that he gave his loyalty to people he would otherwise spit at but in prison the choices were limited and the wardens held the power. And he really preferred beating people up to being beaten - or becoming the guinea pig.

And then he came to Diamondback.

Diamondback had issues - tons of issues - but he also had ambitions and with Shades at his side with his intelligence and calculating mind and his contacts in Harlem it wasn’t even a question who the biggest player in town was going to be.

It took some time but Diamondback learned to trust Shades up to the point where Willis trusted Hernan. It had been ages since Hernan let anyone get this close but there was something about Willis he couldn’t put his finger on. A certain vision maybe? It certainly wasn’t all those bible quotes. Hernan knew a hypocrite when he saw one even when he wasn’t regularly being fucked through the mattress by said hypocrite.

At the beginning things were great. They functioned perfectly as a team. They worked together like two cogs in a smoothly running machine on each and every conceivable level, professionally, emotionally, certainly sexually.

Well, they still worked perfect when it came to the professional level.

That was something.

That’s what Hernan told himself when Willis once again took out his fucking self-hatred on him. He’d never had a problem with a little bit of kink and by nature he wasn’t the dominant type. He’d had partners that made him more than enjoy the occasional spanking. But those partners had made a point that it was consensual every time. With Willis the lines went blurry really fast.

The problem was he liked Willis - maybe more.

And Willis saw him as someone special, too. Hell, he was sure that he was the only one in the whole organization who actually knew Diamondback’s real name. And he listened to him. Diamondback didn’t listen to anyone besides the voice of God in his head. Yet he did listen to Shades - occasionally. He valued Shades’ opinion. He valued Shades.

So he surely valued Hernan, too.

He had to.

That’s what Hernan told himself when Willis once again slipped, or lost his control over some perceived slight and he invited Hernan for a ‘talk’ to reestablish who was in charge.

It honestly came as a relief when Cornell ‘Cottonmouth’ Stokes got himself into trouble so badly that Diamondback sent him to sort things out. A little bit of distance might do them both some good. And he could prove once again that he was indeed loyal to Diamondback. That no matter what else, he could count on Hernan to have his back and do whatever was best for Willis, was best for them.

He remembered Cornell. The man tried to keep the heritage of his grandmother alive and Shades could respect that. Hernan had worshipped Mama Mabel ever since she took care of his father for good. And no matter what he thought of Cornell he would try to help him because of that alone. It wasn’t really a conflict of interest either, Diamondback and Stokes worked on the same side and a smooth continuation of business as usual was worth more than the few extra bucks a takeover would get them - at least as far as Shades was concerned.

And then he met Mariah. He had last seen her when he’d been a spotty teenager and she went off to study some real upperclass shit. But she had turned from a young, shy girl into a remarkable woman. She was so obviously her grandmother’s true heir that Hernan couldn’t comprehend how Cornell had ever managed to take Mama Mabel’s position in the club.

After witnessing a few interactions between the cousins and watching Cornell’s absolute disinterest in taking helpful advice, Shades slowly came to the conclusion that Cottonmouth wasn’t the way to go.

After speaking with Diamondback, Shades went to the club to take care of the problem once and for all. He just hoped he would be able to get Mariah to take over with his tutelage. He would hate to see Harlem’s Paradise end or become something less than it could be. It was and always should be a place where Mama Mabel’s memory was kept alive. As much as he still felt that he belonged to Diamondback, Hernan was pretty sure, Willis wouldn’t get it. Probably would turn the thing into a church or some shit.

When he finally went down to the club to take care of things he was surprised to find Mariah there. He got ready to wait it out, not wanting to get Cornell dealt with while his cousin was still here.

And then he witnessed something he would have never thought he’d see. He knew that Mariah loved her cousin, cared deeply for him because he was family. But then he went too far.

When he saw Mariah shoving Cornell through the window down on the dance floor, hearing her shout “I didn’t ask for it! I NEVER asked for it!” he froze for the first time in years. He simply couldn’t do anything but watch as the usually composed politician broke under the pressure of years and bash her cousin’s head in with a microphone stand. Only when it was over did he find himself walking over.

Mariah despite her amazing potential was frozen in shock. Hernan remembered the first time he had ended a life well. And this was personal - all too personal. He wouldn’t hold this against her. Just the contrary. Mariah had stood up for herself against someone she cared about. In a way he envied her.

There really was only one thing he could do - help her to make the best of the situation.

Helping people to be the best leaders they could be and achieve the best potential outcome was what he did best after all. He made an effort to put all thoughts of Willis out of his mind to take care of the task at hand.

And then Willis decided to take a more active role in the future of Harlem’s Paradise, now that Cornell was gone. Hernan should have been happy. Apparently his original idea had worked. After a few bumps when he came in and had to establish for himself that Shades was still his bitch, Diamondback was almost pleasant to be around. They shared a few very gratifying nights always with the understanding that Hernan wouldn’t hold threats of death against Willis. A few months ago, he wouldn’t have thought twice about it. The job was the job and you had to keep up appearances - especially in front of the crew. But after this breather, after Cornell had feared him and Mariah saw him as an equal, he wasn’t so sure if was willing to overlook this callous disregard from the man he regularly shared a bed with.

He really tried to hold himself back. He knew Willis didn’t deal well with open opposition no matter how well meant and thought through it was.

Only it became kind of impossible when Diamondback lost his shit when Carl Lucas made an appearance on the fucking Anti-Luke-Cage-rally they held at the Paradise. Willis was so obsessed with stupid little Carl that he completely lost it.

Hernan tried to reason. He practically begged Willis to get out of here. This was suicide without a plan and they didn’t have any. But he wasn’t listening. The only thing he even seemed to hear from what Hernan was telling him was the fact that he used his name. He wanted Willis to see that he was actually worried. That this was his fucking lover talking not just any of the bloody hired help. The only thing he achieved was anger at breaking protocol. Under calm circumstances Shades could even empathize. But this was anything but. Outwardly he stayed relatively calm but only years of training of hiding behind the shades made it possible. Diamondback’s only ‘plan’ was to use the confusion and blame Cage.

To add insult to injury Willis went on and unloaded his fucking life story on one of the hostages. Hernan knew that the slimy politician would be dead before this was over. Still Diamondback ripped him a new one for using his name only to confess to some random asshole that Carl Lucas was his fucking half-brother. Well, that explained a lot he guessed but Shades was far too busy trying to come up with a way - any way - how he, Willis, and Mariah might get out of here alive and walk free.

He tried to make fun of the hopelessness of the situation, reaffirm his loyalty toward Willis. But Diamondback only heard the word ‘dumb’ and seemed ready to beat him up right then and there. After ordering him to take care of Candace and the other chick, Willis promised him a long ‘talk’. Shades ignored the dry feeling in his throat and just left. He wondered if the cops or Willis were the worse option. At this point he wasn’t sure anymore.

When he found himself alive but in police custody at the end, Hernan counted himself lucky. He had no idea where Willis or Mariah were but he had seen neither of them shot down so he stayed optimistic. And whatever else might happen, Shades knew how to deal with cops. In fact it was almost fun playing the inspector who thought she was so tough.

His fun ended when an actual lawyer did turn up and coughed up the two million for bail. Hernan wasn’t sure what this meant besides the fact that Willis obviously had somehow escaped. Was this two million shot into the wind as a reward for his loyalty? A sign that maybe once he’d calmed down and saw that Shades had been right now things would turn for the better?

He caught sight of Mariah out of the corner of his eye and saw her leaving, with Detective Misty Knight fuming powerlessly. He didn’t dare show a reaction. But when Misty asked him whether he had it all figured out, he told her. A confession out of respect for a formidable foe and a testimony of how lost he was. “No, actually I don’t.”

He found himself riding in an elevator with Romeo’s boy Zip and a couple of other thugs. None of the ones that were close to him. None of the ones with an actual fashion sense. He didn’t do anything. He held onto hope to the last moment. It might be stupid but he was loyal. He simply wouldn’t believe that Willis would do this to him after everything.

His hope died as the cable closed around his neck. He managed to fight Zip, take a gun from one of the goons, shoot the two of them and finally fight the stupid boy off.

Hernan was the brains in the background. He dressed smart and spoke softly. People forgot that he was also a damn tough bastard.

He took Zip to the roof and let him confirm what he needed to hear. Diamondback - Willis who scratched his nails down Hernan’s back, who called his ass beautiful, before and after slapping it until it was dark red and throbbing - had ordered his death.

He guessed it was time to search for Mariah Dillard. Mama Mabel at least always knew to reward loyalty.

**Author's Note:**

> I know, I know Shades is a coldblooded killer. I can't help but like him though (at least as a character in a show). And him and Diamondback during the showdown at the club - definitely a couple.


End file.
